Shako



April 8, 1958 R. E. OSTWALD SHAKO 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 3, 1955INVENTOR Foals/P7 ERA/4557* 0.5774074 i MBQ ATTORNEY April. 8, 1958 R.E. OSTWALD 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 SHAKO Filed May 3, 1955 6 a r E M E H E w RBY m ATTORNEY This invention relates to a shake, and more particu larlyto a novel military headdress which possesses many,

unusual advantagesover such headdress used heretofore.

A shako is a military dresshead gear.- The shako is used extensively bybands, drum and bugle corps, and other musical organizations wherever anornate costume or uniform is prescribed. Shakos are usually ornamentedwith metal or embroidered emblems and are decorated with cord trims,metal chin straps, plumes and pompous. These accessory items ordecorations are fastened to the shako body in' a rigid manner. I

Heretofore, shakos have beenconstructed in one of two ways. In one typeof shako the body is formed by draping several layers of apliableytextile fabric, such as gossamer or cheese cloth over'a maleshako body form. The pieces of the material'are combinedjlayer by layerby use of an appropriateadhesive. Subsequently, the outside of the shakobody is lacquered or shellacked. By constructingshako bodies in theabove manner, it is possible to produce shakos'having tapering sidewallsorit is possible to construct the sidewalls with a slight curvature.

, Another type of shako is constructed of twopieces of I buckrammaterial in which one piece consists of a straight.

outer wall cylindrically shaped and the other piece is a separate tonguewhich is sewn to the sidewalls. It is not possible with the two piececonstruction to provide tapering or curved sidewalls. It is alsonecessary to reinforce the top by providing a wire or steel band sewninto the top section of the shako.

Many difliculties have been encountered when using either of theaforementioned shako bodies. It has been found exceedingly diflicult toconstruct the shako bodies with sufficient strength so that they willnot be easily broken and still retain a headdress which is light enoughfor comfortable wear. Furthermore, by using materials such as thosepreviously mentioned, it has been found that the shako tends to shrinkand wilt when wet. This problem is of unusual significance if the shakobody is exposed to rain since it will warp and the sidewalls willcollapse. It is not possible to subsequently reshape the shako.

In the construction of prior art shakos, it has been the practice tostitch the visor to the body. The visor is necessarily of a stiffermaterial and, of course, it is necessary that the visor be curved andslanted in relation to the shako body. This tends to exert a certainoutward pull on the oval or round shape of the shako body andconsequently, causes the shako to lose its original shape.

It is, therefore, clear that there has been a definite need in the artfor a shako which is both durable and light. The material used should becapable of being sewn and yet possess sufiicient rigidity as to permitthe mounting of decorative and ornamental accessory items.

According to the present invention the top, sidewalls, and visor of theshako are integrally formed with each of the parts possessing therequisite strength character istics and yet the shako body iscomparatively light in '2 weight. from plastic material by a formingprocess so that any. shape or style can be produced without seams andwith the proper stiffness. It is possible according to the presentinvention to provide a relativelythin top and compara tively thicksidewall and visor sections so that the strength and rigidity areprovided where necessary. By integrally forming the visor, the stressespresent in prior art shakos;

are removed. Furthermore, the bulky seams required previously to stitchthe visor to the shako body are unnecessary, 1

The front emblem and plume are secured to the shako body in a novelmanner by means of a sleeve assembly which permits a ready insertion andremoval of the plume or pompon. v

Two forms of covering are shown in connection with the integrally formedshako body- It is possible to provide a cloth covering for the top andsidewalls and stitch,

this covering to the internal periphery of the sidewall. It is alsopossible to provide adhesive on the outer surface of. the shako andspray flocking material thereon to give the desired effect. A leathersweat band and textile bag headrest may be applied interiorly of theshako in the usual manner.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a militaryheaddress which is sturdy and light in vide a military headdress inwhich the sidewalls are relatively thick and the top is comparativelythin so that the. body has the necessary rigidityand yet. is light inOther objects and many of the attendantadvantages. of the presentinvention will become apparent upon con sideration of the accompanyingdrawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a shako body made in accordance with thepresent invention,

Fig. 2 is a sectional view in elevation of a shako body,

Fig. 3 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 2 showing one form ofcovering,

Fig. 4 is a sectional view along the lines 44 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is a partial sectional view showing another form of covering,

Fig. 6 is a detail view of the covering shown in Fig. 5, and

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of an accessory used with the presentinvention.

Referring now specifically to the drawings wherein like numeralsindicate like parts throughout the several views there is shown in Fig.1 a shako body 1 which is an integral plastic body comprising a top 2,cylindrical tapered sidewall 3, and visor portion 4. The shako body ismoldedfrom plastic material preferably by a process wherein the heatedplastic material is formed against the die. In this manner the walls maybe made of varying thicknesses and as clearly shown in Fig. 2, the top 2is relatively thin, whereas the sidewall 3 and visor 4 are thicker forgiving the requisite strength to the shako.

The outer edge of the visor may be provided with a reinforcing groove orledge 5 as shown in Fig. 2 to give added strength to the visor. Ventholes 6 are provided in the sidewall of the shako for purposes ofventilation and apertures 7, 8 and 9 are provided in the molded shakobody for purposes to become more fully apparent hereinafter.

Referring now to Fig. 3, it can be seen that a cloth covering 11 isprovided to give a finished appearance P n d-Apr- 8,3

The shako of the present invention ism (Sided v Mala w c.

to theshako. This cloth covering may be of any suitable material andcolor and is folded: under thelower edge of the shako body and isstitched as at 12 to the shako. A suitable outer band 13 may be providedaround the bottomedgeofthe-headdress. Adjacent the visor portion of theshako, the cloth covering 11 is folded as at" 14 and stitched on theouter side of the shako, I

Suitableaccessories may be mounted on the shako, if desired.Thereisshown at 15 an emblem, the rear face of which is provided with abolt 16 which extends through aperture 8 in the-shako body; A plumesupporting device 17, which is more clearly shown in Fig. 7, comprisesasleeve portion 18 and a flat securing portion 19. Ad-' top of the shakoby meansof nut 23 which is fastened on bolt 16. It can beseen that boththe plume support 17 and the front emblem 15 are secured on'the'shako bymeans of nut 23.

' Referring now to Figs. and 6, there is shown another type of coveringwhich may be applied to the shako body. The shako-body is coated with anadhesive 24, Fig. 6, and a flocking material 25 is then sprayed on theadhesive. This flocking material may be of any desired color and, infact, bands of various colors of flocking material may be applied to theshake body.

It is apparent that apertures 9 provided on each side of the shako bodyadjacent the end of the visor portion are provided for the purpose ofsecuring a front strap by means of ornamental buttons. It is alsoapparent that the usual sweat band and inside headrest may be stitchedto the shako body in the usual manner.

By molding the shako body as an integral plastic body, the sidewalls maybe tapered as desired and the various walls may be made of suitablethickness for both comfort and strength. The visor retains its shapewithout placing the sidewalls of the headdress under any stress, as waspresent in prior art shakos. novel manner in which the accessories areattached to the shako permits the ready variation of both the frontemblem and the plume. By making the plume detachable, compactness isassured.

'7 new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A, shako comprising, in Combination, a substantially cylindricallyshaped sidewall having a visor integrally formed therewith, a topintegrally formed with said sidewall, said top being thin relative tothe thickness of said sidewall and visor, and a fabric covering for thesidewall and top, said fabric covering having an overlapping bottom, aportion of said overlapping bottom extending over the edge of thesidewall across the sides and the back thereof and the other portion ofsaid overlapping bottom folded upon itself across the front thereofFurthermore, the i between the ends of the visor, said fabric coveringbeing stitched to the sidewall around the overlapping bottom adjacentthe free edge of the overlapping bottom.

"2. Ashako according to claim 1 and further including a plume holderextending through an aperture in said top, and an emblem disposed on thesidewall and having a' boltextending through the sidewall and engagingthe plume holder.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

